Amazon.com
The food in the French Farmhouse Cookbook is a reminder of how deeply the soul of French cooking is rooted in the fruits of the soil and sea. For three years, Susan Herrmann Loomis traveled the coasts and visited rural farms in all corners of France. She discovered more than treasured recipes for the quintessentially French dishes that appear in this book. She also met people passionate about the foodstuffs they raise, gather, catch, or produce. Their stories make this book a living tapestry of individuals and the food they cook. Many dishes, while utterly French, fit well into today's preferences for sensible good eating.
Book Description
As much a book of inspiration as a collection of over 250 uncommonly delicious recipes, French Farmhouse Cookbook captures the rustic and richly flavored farmhouse cooking that is the basis of French cuisine and a perennial inspiration of French chefs. The author visited and lived among farmers, cheesemakers, ranchers, and vintners from the Pyrénnées to Alsace-Lorraine, from Normandy to Provence. The result is a stunning portrait in recipes, lively essays, and a wealth of astucesótips passed down through generations of cooks. Here are dishes prepared by lifelong cooks--not chefs--intended to satisfy, not impress.
"Susan Loomis's new book is that rare thing: a cookbook that expresses accurately the milieu of its recipes. It is a timely and beautiful reminder that we have to connect back to the land in order to recover a sustainable future."--Alice Waters, author of Chez Panisse Vegetables.
Main selection of the Book of the Month Club's Good Cook Club. 55,000 copies in print.
Customer Reviews:
Authentic, easy, fun!.......2007-05-14
My husband first bought a copy of this cookbook at a yard sale. I didn't look at it right away, fearing another overblown, complex and difficult French cookbook. Mais non! Most of the recipes are fairly easy and reflect the fresh, authentic nature of country French cooking. We now keep this cookbook at our house in Southwest France, in Wisconsin AND in Florida. This is the only book of which we have three copies!! The recipes are a delight (Loomis' gougeres are the best and have several quite helpful hints that no other chef has given).
The food and the stories capture the essence of rural France--making the cooking, wherever you may be, pure delight a la Francais!
Authentic, accessible and delicious.......2007-02-22
I served for two years in southwestern France as a Mormon missionary. When I came home to Calgary, Alberta I pined for the simple, fresh, unpretentious food I'd grown used to eating in rural France. Luckily the French Farmhouse Cookbook was first published about four months before I got home, and when I stumbled on it by accident in a bookshop I was overjoyed.
Not only are the recipes authentic and accessible, but the stories Ms. Loomis tells about how food is raised and grown -- how seriously the farmers and growers view their work -- ring absolutely true to my experience living in France. I've never found another North American book so true to real French family food.
Especially useful are recipes for small things that one can take for granted at any supermarket in France -- creme fraiche, sucre vanille, quatre epices, etc. -- but that are hard come by in most US or Canadian stores. You can substitute other ingredients (sour cream for creme fraiche) but it's not quite the same; the effort the author took to include everything needed to reproduce the authentic experience is another reason this is my favorite French cookbook. I can't recommend it highly enough.
La Créme de la Créme!!.......2005-07-19
My wife is French, her sole and all-absorbing passion in life is cooking. She has two armoires filled with cookbooks, including all the classics. This is her favorite. All of the recipes she has made from this book have been exquisite. Two thumbs up, and all eight fingers! This is a must-have!
Bon Appetit!
GLIMPSES INTO ANOTHER WORLD.......2005-06-22
The stories about the actual farms and farmers who provide the recipes and ingredients in this wonderful book are fascinating. Nothing is taken for granted, and meals are extensively discussed and savored. Memorable is the story accompanying the recipe for Duck with Prunes in which the cook providing the recipe explains apologetically that the recipe is from another region of France, but "we love it so much, we cook it all the time."
The farmers' pride in the quality of their produce and livestock, and the care with which Susan Herrmann Loomis specifies exactly what kind of oranges, or chickens or asparagus are to be used in each recipe inspire a very unAmerican way of viewing cooking and eating, in which only the finest ingredients are perfectly cooked. The descriptions of the walnut farms, the Bresse chicken farm, the vanishing family farms are evocative of a great foreign film. After reading this book cover to cover, I feel as though I've had a course in French rural culture--with refreshments. Highly recommended!
practical and diverse.......2005-03-10
This is one of the most practical and most referred to book on my cooking shelf. This book is extremely practical because Loomis uses easy-to-find ingredients and the recipees for entrees can be made in 30 minutes or couple of hours (but most of that is waiting time). The instructions are detailed but to the point and tips are delighful. There is also a good diversity in the complexity of the dishes but most are relatively simple, as they were farm-house cooking, meaning either they had to be put together very fast before dinner, or tossed into the oven or stove before doing the days' chores, and to be enjoyed at night after a long stewing/braising/etc. The dishes (esp the basque region dishes) are very flavorful and bring out the best flavors in the ingredient. Highly recommended for enhancing/inspiring your home cooking.
Amazon.com
Christopher Kimball, editor and founder of Cook's Illustrated magazine, grew up during the 1950s in rural Vermont, where he spent many summers working as a farmhand. His most cherished memories were of the yellow farmhouse, where an eclectic gathering of workers met at noon for hearty meals of roast, potatoes, boiled greens, baking-powder biscuits, molasses cookies, and perhaps a pie. Kimball's memories of this time make for a book that is as good to read as it is to cook from.
Kimball has painstakingly tried and tested hundreds of recipes for those childhood roasts, cookies, apple pies, and other nurturing farmhouse delights. In The Yellow Farmhouse Cookbook, he reworks them for the modern kitchen (olive oil and hand mixers are allowed), while still capturing "the spirit of farmhouse cooking, using simple ingredients simply prepared."
Within each chapter, memories, recipes, and cooking techniques effortlessly roll into one another. In "The Dairy," we are whisked back to Kimball's 10th year, when he milked cows. Back then, "milk was stored in large cans set into a thick metal cooler filled with cold water." This description sets the perfect scene for milky recipes such as an American Baked Custard, several tapioca puddings, chocolate mousses, and cream pies. All adhere to the book's main premise: simple cooking with basic ingredients. Other chapters are solely devoted to meat, vegetables, baking, breakfast, cookies, fruit, and preserving, as well as a buying guide for purchasing the best cookware and kitchen tools. With so much research, and so many recipes and reminiscences, The Yellow Farmhouse Cookbook really is an act of culinary love and devotion. --Naomi Gesinger
Book Description
Christopher Kimball, editor and founder of Cook's Illustrated magazine, grew up during the 1950s in rural Vermont, where he spent many summers working as a farmhand. His most cherished memories were of the yellow farmhouse, where an eclectic gathering of workers met at noon for hearty meals of roast, potatoes, boiled greens, baking-powder biscuits, molasses cookies, and perhaps a pie. Kimball's memories of this time make for a book that is as good to read as it is to cook from. Kimball has painstakingly tried and tested hundreds of recipes for those childhood roasts, cookies, apple pies, and other nurturing farmhouse delights. In The Yellow Farmhouse Cookbook, he reworks them for the modern kitchen (olive oil and hand mixers are allowed), while still capturing "the spirit of farmhouse cooking, using simple ingredients simply prepared."Within each chapter, memories, recipes, and cooking techniques effortlessly roll into one another. In "The Dairy," we are whisked back to Kimball's 10th year, when he milked cows. Back then, "milk was stored in large cans set into a thick metal cooler filled with cold water." This description sets the perfect scene for milky recipes such as an American Baked Custard, several tapioca puddings, chocolate mousses, and cream pies. All adhere to the book's main premise: simple cooking with basic ingredients. Other chapters are solely devoted to meat, vegetables, baking, breakfast, cookies, fruit, and preserving, as well as a buying guide for purchasing the best cookware and kitchen tools. With so much research, and so many recipes and reminiscences, The Yellow Farmhouse Cookbook really is an act of culinary love and devotion. --Naomi Gesinger
Customer Reviews:
I'm so disapointed.......2006-06-24
I have tried two recipes so far and they were both flops! I tried the baking powder biscuits and the buttermilk pancakes (with the whole milk variation). I really like Kimball and love America's Test Kitchen but I do not like this book.
Very good intro book.......2002-11-04
The Yellow Farmhouse Cookbook is aimed for those with second houses OR startup kitchens. It is complete with what utensils and pots to buy, with reviews right out of the Cooks Illustrated Magagine. It gives lots of information on the science of cooking too. There are not allot of recipes in here but this is a basic book that lets you understand cooking & what to buy to get started.
If you get this with the Joy and you'll be okay.
The Cook's bible is the upscale version of the Farmhouse, the pots and kitchen equipment are more top-end; Farmhouse is how to make a kitchen on a budget -- your call.
Entirely dependable and entirely wonderful.......2002-05-26
There is great comfort for any cook who finds a cookbook author he or she likes: you know what to expect, you trust their judgement and their recipes, you like their voice. That's the case with Christopher Kimball and me.
Christopher Kimball founded and still edits COOK'S ILLUSTRATED magazine. I always learn something from COOK'S. Its laconic, thorough approach is Chris incarnate, and this unfussy spirit is echoed in "The Yellow Farmhouse Cookbook" as well. With its yellow-checked cover, an old-fashioned typeface (Poor Richard, perhaps?), and illustrations reminiscent of woodblock prints by Rockwell Kent or Barry Moser, this is a conscious visual effort to call up the gentle past.
The recipes, however, are anything but nostalgic. Chris flatly debunks assumption after assumption about recipes we thought we knew. He is a demon tester, and has charted wonderful new paths to the same old dishes, making them bright and newly delicious in our mouths. Several "Yellow Farmhouse Cookbook" recipes have become family favorites in my home (especially the scalloped potatoes, which get requested on practically a weekly basis). This book is a stroke of good fortune for any home cook.
Good for Novice Cooks.......2002-03-27
I bought this book to read about Christopher Kimball's kitchen experiments. I love his writing style.
I think this cookbook contains a lot of useful information for beginners. However, it contains nothing that good cooks don't already know. For that reason, I'm giving it 4 stars instead of 5.
Very Dependable.......2002-01-17
A NYC Chef, I took this book with me when going down south to cook for 2 older southern gentlemen because I was informed under no uncertain terms that I would have to cook old-fashioned American country food. This book turned out to be very dependable. I am intrigued by the less than satisfactory reviews of the book. He definitely backtracks on some of his recipes in the Cook's Bible (he tells you where) but he also talks about how he improved the recipe here. To be sure, I have modifications in mind for my own taste on several of the recipes, and find the "master recipe" concept for things like mashed potatoes amusing, but this book's results are very enjoyable home-style cooking. One major feature for me was that I've been used to the organic produce and variety one finds in NY, but there, that wasn't available. These recipes came through because they are written for what one can find in a grocery store anywhere in the country.
Book Description
The essence of Italian cooking"Susan has gone to the source, where the techniques are still genuine and the recipes tied to the culture. ITALIAN FARMHOUSE COOKBOOK is a must-have for anyone seriously interested in Italian cookery.O (LIDIA BASTIANICH)
Simple as a luscious ripe tomato rubbed over rustic bread, intensely flavored as a Sunday leg of lamb smothered in fresh herbs, joyous, unexpected, vibrant farm food is the heart and soul of Italian cooking, and the prize of Susan Herrmann LoomisIs years-long quest. Working side-by-side in the kitchen, walking through fields at dawn, eating, drinking, and above all listening, she discovers the secret ingredient of Italian cooks O accortezza, or simply IknowingO O and weaves it into every recipes of this sensuous, sun-filled book.
ON THE FARMHOUSE MENU
Lemon-Spiced Olives
The Real Panzanella
Potato and Artichoke Soup from Campania
Garlicky Cheese Polenta
Chestnut Pasta with Wild Mushrooms
Smothered Cauliflower
Sicilian Double-Crusted Potato Pizza
Herbed Farmhouse Lamb Chops
Spinach and Ricotta Dumplings
Customer Reviews:
How a Library Checkout Became a Personal Library Must.......2006-09-16
About two weeks ago, I checked this book out from my local library. The title caught my eye because I was raised on a farm in flyover country and I love simple dishes made from an abundance of my own garden vegetables and fruit.
I've been cooking from it ever since. What a discovery! Susan is to be celebrated. I ignored her stories - at first - and just blazed through the recipes until I found one that I really liked - that also solved my zuchinni and basil bumper crop problem: "Giannola Nonino's Summer Zucchini Pasta". Other new recipes and great family dinners followed. Today, I cooked pizzas using "Maria's Pizza Dough" and "Nunzio's Tomato Sauce". Simple ingredients, simple to cook, tasty results.
I'm also a recovering 20-year frequent flying business traveler (yes, I've been around Italy, too). I am now working from my home and in my 11th happy month of recovery. Trust me, you will grow to dispise and regret fancy food (too complex for a simple-minded stomach) and long for whatever is fresh right now, combined with very simple but (thanks to the Internet and places like Trader Joes's) pretty cheap Italian ingredient sources.
Within a couple of days, I started reading everything: the farms Susan stayed at, the people who bragged about their dishes - and their versions of those classic dishes. I have now read the whole book, and can't wait to start using the Italian equivalant of Bell and Mason jar canning and freezing recipes to store away my basil, zuchinni, bell peppers and green beans.
All of the recipes I've tried have made it to family-requested repeat dinners and leftovers-into-lunchbags.
For me, this goes right alongside "The Joy of Cooking", "The Vegetarian Epicure" series, and "El Norte" on my in-kitchen bookshelf.
Good on you, Susan Loomis! I'm looking forward to trying everyday family French food. God knows, I don't want to eat any more of the high-end restaurant stuff.
Thanks for a great cookbook.
An Excellent Foodie Read on Italian Country Cuisine.......2004-11-25
The `Italian Farmhouse Cookbook' by Susan Hermann Loomis is part of a three (3) book series of farmhouse recipe books covering France and the US as well as Italy. My first and most important caution to the prospective buyer is that if all you want is a book of Italian recipes, there are easily a hundred or more books that would better fill that need. Ms. Loomis books are very good, but they are as much or more for readers and foodies as they are for cooks. At least a third of the text in this book gives background on Italian farmers, their life, and their produce. A second reason for this caution is based on an observation I saw in `The Medieval Kitchen' which points out that in the 15th century, city cooking was much more interesting than country cooking, as major urban trading centers had both access to foreign products and a nobility which encouraged creative cooking. Lest you think much has probably changed in the last 500 years, Ms. Loomis' book itself states that Italian country cooking was, until very recently, limited by poor roads and limited trade.
This is not to say this is not a good book. In fact, for travelers who may have an interest in visiting rural Italy, it is an excellent book. It is also excellent in giving a picture of rural agriculture in Italy over the last 100 years. It is quite surprising how recently the Italian peasant has been freed from a crippling economic serfdom by both the national Italian government and the European Economic Community centered in Brussels. All sorts of things that new foodies assume have been around for centuries such as fine Italian wines, dried pasta, high quality olive oil, and grappa comparable to French cognac are actually very recent developments. One can easily get the wrong impression from the age of other products such as Parmesano-Reggiano and prosciutto de Parma that Italy has always been the culinary dynamo it is today.
I must say the recipes in this book are very good and very typically Italian. The surest symptom of an Italian style recipe is when one wonders that you need a recipe at all to make the dish. Just as I marvel at the utter simplicity of Italian influenced recipes from London's River Café and Jamie Oliver, most of the recipes in this book are based on simplicity itself. Even better, there is very little use of premium ingredients such as truffles and balsamic vinegar. On the other hand, I am a little puzzled at how few recipes there are featuring wild mushrooms and wild greens such as dandelion and nettles. There are a fair number of recipes for game such as guinea hens and wild boar. This is great for the accuracy of the book's picture of Italian rural cuisine, but it does not add a lot to the count of recipes useable by a foodie in suburban Newark.
I am especially pleased that the book covers the full range of Italian regions from Friuli to Sicily to Sardinia. I am especially pleased to see a recipe for the traditional Sardinian flatbread. This recipe plus a few others may be worth the price of admission, as it is an easy preparation that requires no fussing with yeast or any other leaveners.
The subjects of the recipe chapters follow a very traditional Italian model based on courses. The chapter titles are:
Appetizers and Snacks, including sidebars on Buffalo mozzarella and Italian organic farming.
Salads, including sidebars on Balsamic Vinegar and capers.
Soups, both Minestre and zuppa.
First Courses, including sidebars on Parmigiano-Reggiano and rice farming.
Second courses, primarily lamb, pork, poultry, rabbit, and boar.
The Vegetable Garden, including sidebars on grappa, organic farming, and peppers.
From the Bread Oven. Not a lot, as the Italians, like the French, typically bought bread from the baker.
Sweet, Sweet, with fruit, nut cakes, fruit tarts, and marmalades.
The Pantry, or what to keep on hand to whip up fast meals.
The basics, or how to make brodo and doughs.
This is the kind of cookbook you read in bed at night to better understand a major world cuisine and get ideas for improvisations based on the Italian style of cooking. The paperback is simply not up to the rigors of standing open on the kitchen table.
This is an excellent background book to accompany more systematic treatments of Italian cuisine such as the excellent books by Marcella Hazan, Lydia Bastianich, and Giuliano Bugialli.
Anxiously Awaiting.......2004-07-29
The 11th Reviewer of the Italian Farmhouse Cookbook is such
a naysayer! I've been 'eyeing' this cookbook for the past year
and I can't wait to get my ovenmitts on it!
As another Reviewer said, 'this is a FARMHOUSE cookbook';
recipes made by REAL people and recipes meant to be used, instead
of merely looked at on the coffee table.
If I Were A Green Bean...........2004-05-07
If I were a green bean willing to sacrifice myself for someone's dinner, I'd hope that they read Susan Hermann Loomis' Italian Farmhouse Cookbook and prepared me as 'Green Beans with Tomatoes' with fresh sage, olive oil, and garlic.
We had Loomis' green beans tonight along with 'Chicken with Lemon Rosemary Salt.' Last night we had her 'Red Onion Pizza' which is made with the best homemade pizza dough that I've found anywhere.
If you're looking for a good Italian cookbook with simple recipes and easy prep this is it.
Mark this one KEEPER.
Condiments and pizza dough are worth every penny.......2003-09-28
I loved this cookbook. I would urge anyone to use her trick to make balsamic vinegar thick and sweet, and the versatile dough used to make pizza and rolls is heavenly! I really enjoyed all of the stories in it also. Great book!
Average customer rating:
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An Irish Farmhouse Cookbook
Mary Kinsella
Manufacturer: Harpercollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 General
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
Regional & International
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
| African
| Asian
| Canadian
| Caribbean & West Indian
| European
| General
| International
| Latin American
| Mexican
| Middle Eastern
| Native American
| U.S. Regional
ASIN: 0862811090 |
Book Description
Nothing evokes comfort, warmth, and mouth-watering hospitality like the dishes prepared by people who actually grow the food. From Susan Herrmann Loomis, author of The French Farmhouse Cookbook, The Italian Farmhouse Cookbook, The Great American Seafood Cookbook, and Clambakes & Fish Fries, Farmhouse Cookbook is the result of a 20,000-mile trek across rural America in search of the soul of the family farm. Passionate in her quest to taste the freshest corn, understand the basics of cattle ranching, and find out just how an artichoke grows, the author contacted legions of farmers who generously shared their time, their knowledge, their homes, and their recipes.
Although Farmhouse Cookbook includes the best pot roast, meat loaf, and stew you're ever likely to encounter, it goes well beyond the expected meat-and-potatoes fare. Here is Chew Chang's Chicken and Mustard Green Soup, Lentil Salad with Smoked Turkey and Tarragon, Pork Loin with Coriander and Garlic Crust, a Basque Fourteen-Hour Leg of Lamb, Lemony Herbed Chicken Wings, Nate Pennell's Mulligan Stew with Blueberry Dumplings, Amish Corn Pudding, and Mary Navarette's Garlicky Enchiladas, from the Christopher Farm in Gilroy, California, the garlic capital of the world. Plus, extraordinary baking-Hot Pepper Corn Bread, Funny Cake, Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies, Rhubarb Crunch, Sour Cherry Crumb Pie, and Best Ever Chocolate Cake.
With profiles of farms and farmers, tips, lore, and an almond to zucchini lexicon, Farmhouse Cookbook is as irresistible as the ring of the dinner bell over the fields.
Selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club's HomeStyle Books and Better Homes & Gardens Family Book Service. 197,000 copies in print.
Customer Reviews:
Great Cookbook.......2007-03-11
This is a new family favorite for us. I have made several recipes and they have all been wonderful!
second purchase.......2006-07-03
This is my FAVORITE cookbook ever! I am a self-proclaimed cookbook junkie who lost all my collection in hurricane Katrina. I purchased this cookbook ten years ago in my college bookstore and have made so many memorable dishes from it. Aside from the great food it is a pleasurable read. I am so happy it is still in print and can't wait to get it back!
wow.......2006-05-11
I was looking for down home recipes and this book delivers. awesome for the price. I did not want to have to shop the ends of the earth for exotic ingredients and this book keeps it pure and simple. Food that nourishes the soul.
The best cookbook I own!.......2002-09-03
I have a extensive cookbook collection and this is my favorite book hands down. Everything I've made from it has been very good. Some of the recipes are a bit labor intensive but I've found that the end result is worth the effort. The whoopie pies are a bit of heaven on earth!
The best cookbook I own!.......2002-09-03
I have a extensive cookbook collection and this is my favorite book hands down. Everything I've made from it has been very good. Some of the recipes are a bit labor intensive but I've found that the end result is worth the effort. The whoopie pies are a bit of heaven on earth!
Amazon.com
Located in Ogunquit, Maine, Arrows is a country restaurant owned by Clark Fraiser and Mark Gaier, who are also its chefs. The Arrows Cookbook, written by the pair, offers 150 recipes from the dining spot, contemporary food like Plank-Roasted Salmon with Rosemary-Mustard Vinaigrette, Baby Bok Choy with Chives and Smoked Ham, and Grilled Sea Scallops with Chile Pepper Sauce. These attractive, uncomplicated dishes are suitable for company or "dressier" weeknight cooking. What sets the book apart from similar works is its attention to the "backyard" garden that supplies the restaurant with over 250 varieties of fresh seasonal produce. The authors' garden smarts yields useful advice, including "How to Build Herb Boxes," "14 Easy Seeds," and "Heirloom Gardening."
The authors make a larger point. "You don't have to believe in the cosmic wisdom of cooking from the garden," they say. "It's enough that your garden will make you smarter about food." Cooking seasonally from the garden "has kept our culinary experimentation firmly rooted," they add, "and will do the same for you." The message is born out by the book's organization, which presents dishes--soup to desserts--season by the season. The winter section, for example, begins with a brief description of Arrows's cold-weather life ("Hardy herbs like sage, rosemary, and thyme are still thriving in our garden beds at Thanksgiving...") then offers appropriate fare including Maine Shrimp Dumplings with Cilantro, Boiled Dinner Our Way (a particularly good version of the traditional dish), and Kale, Swiss Cheese, and Bacon Casserole. "Winter" desserts consist of the tempting likes of Steamed Pumpkin Pudding with Vanilla Crème Anglaise and Chocolate Carrot Cake with Chocolate-Sour Cream Frosting. As both cooking and gardening guide, the book occupies a special--and engaging--spot. With color photos plus line drawings that particularly capture Arrows' special spirit. --Arthur Boehm
Book Description
Part how-to-garden primer, The Arrows Cookbook combines more than 150 delicious recipes with time-tested techniques for growing herbs, vegetables, and edible flowers in a book that reconnects us to the land and the seasons.
Cooking food from the backyard garden or farmers' market -- or even using herbs grown in pots in a sunny window -- goes beyond a passion for freshness. On an elemental level, the process reawakens the cook to a cycle of nature that our ancestors understood intuitively but that, for most of us, has been lost in the modern world.
When chefs Clark Frasier and Mark Gaier left northern California to open their dream restaurant in southern Maine, they had no intention of becoming culinary pioneers. But in 1988 in Ogunquit, Maine, finding enough fresh vegetables and herbs to power a sophisticated restaurant was indeed a challenge.
So, like all can-do Americans, they did something. A ragged field of witchgrass behind the restaurant was turned into a garden where they learned to coax a nine-month growing season out of the chilly earth. They built raised beds, saved seeds, researched heirlooms, consulted experts, and started seedlings.
Today, that acre of Maine yields 270 varieties of vegetables, herbs, fruits, and edible flowers that provide 90 percent of the produce served at Arrows. Born of great necessity, the garden is the soul of this destination restaurant.
In The Arrows Cookbook, Frasier and Gaier tell us how they do it, charting the timeless journey from seed to supper. Recipes celebrate each season -- Asparagus with Mizuna and Blood Orange Vinaigrette and English Pea Soup in spring; Grilled Antipasto Platter and Rib-Eye Steak with Herbs and Caramelized Onions on a summer evening; Napa Cabbage and Apple Cole Slaw and Roast Pork Loin with Rosemary and Garlic for fall; and Escarole and White Bean Soup and Winter Greens with Pink Grapefruit and Red Onion for the chilly, short days of winter. They also offer new takes on such New England classics as Boiled Dinner, Our Way to Steaming Lobster -- Southeast Asian Style, as well as a glorious Thanksgiving feast complete with Roast Turkey with Gravy.
The book is full of clear advice and instructions that will make you elegantly self-sufficient in both kitchen and garden: how to smoke a trout, preserve herbs, use raised beds to extend the growing season, make your own prosciutto, start seeds indoors, roast salmon on a plank, maximize garden space, freeze berries, select edible flowers, grow heirloom tomatoes, pickle hot peppers, find local farmers and fisherman for fresh meats and seafood, and more.
Customer Reviews:
Go to cookbook.......2005-09-29
When I need to plan a dinner for friends that are not foodies this is the first cookbook I choose. The recipes are delicious, easy to prepare and are not over the top. Every recipe has been meticulously checked and all have proven to be delicious. The book helps capture the feel of eating at the restaurant. The seasonality of the book's organization helps us northern new englanders plan an appropriate meal.
Food, Gardening, and Inspiration wrapped up in one book.......2003-11-29
`The Arrows Cookbook' combines 156 recipes from the four seasons of the highly regarded coastal Maine restaurant with a experienced amateur gardener's recommendations on planting and running a large southern Maine vegetable garden for the restaurant. The book embodies the familiar mantra of using fresh, seasonal, local ingredients fortified by giving you the information you need to grow fresh, local ingredients. This is the special slant the book offers, as no publisher has yet gotten the chutzpah to charge $40 for a book without trying to give the reader something extra.
The tone of the book is heavily oriented to their rural Maine terroir in style and content. In Maine, the seasons play a much greater role in daily life than they do in California or even in Manhattan. Therefore, the book's attitude toward its product has neither the mystical reverence of Paul Bertolli or Alice Waters nor the high maintenance, high craftsmanship of Daniel Boulud or Eric Rippert. Even though there is considerable respect for ingredients and home brewed food making here in both the gardening in the Spring and Summer and ham curing done in the Winter. There is also no evidence of high tech houte cuisine (there are no prep or cook times or difficulties ascribed to the recipes) or of Napa Valley chic wine recommendations. This is Maine! This is boiled lobsters, boiled meat, and wild apple country.
The asking price of $0.26 a recipe is a relatively high price for the average cookbook. Many very good books average out at $0.10 to $0.20 a recipe, list. What would make you willing to pay the extra toll for this book aside from the celebrity status of the venue?
1. The recipes are good, simple preparations. Of the 156, there are:
Appetizers 27
Salads 22
Main Courses 26 11 of which are for seafood
Sauces 21
Side Dishes 36
Desserts 24
The relatively high proportion of appetizers, salads, and side dishes to main courses is explained by the fact that the menu is different for each of the four seasons, based on what produce is available in that season. There are few or no tomato dishes in Spring and few strawberry dishes in Winter. The up side to this picture is that this book is a very good source for seasonal salads, appetizers, and side dishes. If one's limited cookbook budget was aimed at either seasonally or vegetarianism, this is a very good book. The attention to edible flowers is especially noteworthy.
2. The gardening information is fairly complete for the straightforward vegetable garden. Its primary value is inspirational and getting one started in the right directions. A good bibliography of gardening texts is included. The supplementary books are needed, because these authors are amateurs. I found at least one botanical mistake, but it wasn't serious. The book's value drops off the further you live from the Southern Maine growing zone and the less space you have available to grow stuff. The greatest value of this part of the book is the inspiration it can give to save money by growing your own. I believe the frugality of restaurant operations and the way they treat their prima materia is one of the most useful inspirations for home chefs. The growing of herbs alone in a Manhattan apartment can probably save someone over $100 a year with a commensurate improvement in their cuisine. Check out the price of fresh basil the next time you are in the tomato aisle of your megamart.
The photographs in this book are very gratefully limited to special sections and are of a reasonable quality. I have given up assigning demerits for photos, which have the center of a plate in focus and the front and back out of focus. All are about the food. No sous chefs hamming it up for the camera. Very commendable. One regret I have about the photography is that the book gives special attention to a very large arrangement at the restaurant entrance which changes at least seasonally, yet they give not a single photo of this great work, even after giving a detailed description of how to construct one. There are also many small black and white photos related to the text, but with no caption. Occasionally disorienting. Lastly, I miss a few more photos of their extensive garden and greenhouse(s). I start to get the sense that, like Emeril's recent cookbook, this book is aimed at being an elaborate advertisement for the restaurant.
This is good and more than commonly useful book. At a discounted price of $30 or less, I recommend it.
Not just another cookbook.......2003-11-15
As both a cook and a gardener, this cookbook is a treat. Oganized by season, the recipes use fresh fruits, herbs, and vegetables found in the garden and at the farmer's market. There are ambitious recipes that call for a lot of time and preparation, as well as extremely simple fare. The book also gives hints and instructions for everything from freezing berries and shucking oysters to building raised beds; even providing advice on whether or not to buy a greenhouse! You can plant the authors' "10 veggies that let you have a life," and then use their recipes to create such dishes as Red and Golden Beet Salad or the very simple Ginger-Roasted Parsnips. Armed with my seed catalogs and Frasier and Gaier's cookbook for inspiration and ideas (not to mention a slice of Super-Moist Apple Cake and a cup of coffee), I am looking forward to planning my garden for 2004. I can hardly wait until next year's harvest!
a good customer ny.......2003-09-25
This book is a must have. The recipes are fun and easy to prepare. When my family goes to their restaurant we are always treated as family. So many of the recipes are great that I can't even pick a single one as my favorite. What really puts this book into the next level is the way that they use seasonal ingredients. A must have.
A Cook's Inspiration.......2003-06-23
Anyone who's ever visited Arrows Restaurant in Ogunquit, Maine, knows the owners are sticklers for exquisite detail. From the views of the lush and meticulous one-acre garden out the freshly painted farmhouse windows, to the seasonal food artfully arranged on the plate, the experience is a treat for the eye as well as the palate. With the garden full of flowers, herbs, vegetables and heirloom tomatoes for inspiration, the food is creative and bursting with bright and subtle flavors.
The owners' first book reflects this with a balanced presentation of recipes, gardening advice and personal details. Organized seasonally, the authors showcase Maine staples such as lobster, Maine shrimp and cod and halibut, fiddleheads and blueberries. But the fiddleheads come served in brown butter with Bundnerfleisch, a German cured beef (you could also substitute prosciutto or smoked salmon); the lobster comes in an Asparagus Soup with Lobster, Morels and Chervil, and the lobster salad is served, not with mayonnaise, but with Tomato-Tarragon Vinaigrette.
The authors cross cultures freely and do not mind a little extra effort for a spectacular result. The skewers for the Chinese-inspired Grilled Lamb Brochettes on Basil Skewers with Spicy Basil-Cilantro Marinade, for instance, are basil stems left to dry over the winter.
Each chapter opens with a short essay on the season and state of the garden (which provides 90 percent of the restaurant's produce) and business, then moves on to feature appetizers, main and side dishes, sauces and desserts. Recipes are prefaced with short, useful notes on growing (even in Maine, "tomatillos grow like weeds"), selecting (the best piece of bluefin tuna, for instance), variations, accompaniments, and cooking tips.
Interspersed with the recipes are short gardening pieces - how to grow tomatoes or peppers, growing and using herbs, watering with soaker hoses, using up zucchini, making the most of a small space, edible flowers, saving seeds and lots more.
But the food is what Arrows veterans are looking for here. For a tantalizing taste of summer, try a Sweet and Sour Fennel Salad or a simple plate of Marinated Tomatoes or a Sugar Snap Pea and Rock Shrimp Salad. Then maybe some Maine Sweet Clams with Risotto and Arugula, or Grilled Rib-Eye Steak with Herbs and Caramelized Onions. Accompanied perhaps by some Thai-Style Corn-on-the-Cob (soaked in coconut milk, grilled), or Yam and Leek Gratin, and your own Onion and Rosemary Focaccia. Topped off with Cinnamon Basil Shortcakes with Peaches or Blueberry Ice Cream or Steamed Raspberry Pudding.
This is an attractive, personable, conversational book, as much fun to cook from as to browse. The recipes are not difficult, though some are time consuming and many feature ingredients you can find, but not necessarily at the local supermarket (but isn't a new discovery half the fun?). A delightful book and a kitchen inspiration.
Book Description
Enjoy the simple pleasures of a country Christmas. Brimming with fresh ideas, Farmhouse Christmas Cookbook has old-fashioned recipes like country chicken pie, golden mashed potatoes, hearty beef brisket and sugar cream pie. Learn to make Grandma's hug quilt, share yummy gift mixes from your pantry and create homespun giftwrap. Filled with charming illustrations...it's a classic.
Customer Reviews:
Another Great Book wtih all the Holiday Trimmings!.......2002-03-20
Farmhouse Christmas is another great Gooseberry Patch Book filled with charming memories and excellent recipes sure to warm your heart and feed your tummy!
Learn how to make Oatmeal Molasses Bread, Sugar Cream Pie, and Country-Style Ribs or Mom's Chicken & Dressing!
Those of you who are not familiar with Gooseberry Patch, will be charmed by the stories, illustrations and suggestions for healthy and happy living put together by country friends, Vickie and Joann!
Farmhouse Christmas is another excellent volume in the Gooseberry Patch collection.
Great Ideas to Make a Christmas You'll Remember.......2000-06-15
This book is wonderful....reading it is like talking to a good friend about holiday traditions. There are ideas for homemade gifts such as pancake mix, cookies in a jar, ornaments, and keepsakes. The recipes sound delicious and include items like an edible cookie bowl, Granny's Pot Roast, Caramel Apple Crisp, and Snickerdoodles. Build a fire, grab some hot cocoa, make some homemade gifts, and cook up some warm food for your family....this one is a hit!
Average customer rating:
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The Midwestern Country Cookbook: Recipes and Remembrances from a Traditional Farmhouse
Marilyn Kluger
Manufacturer: Prima Lifestyles
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Baking
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
International
| Regional & International
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
Midwest
| U.S. Regional
| Regional & International
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1559582979
Release Date: 1993-07-19 |
Book Description
In The Midwestern Country Cookbook, Marilyn Kluger shares scores of wonderful family recipes for pies, biscuits, cakes, breads, and gravies- good down-home country cooking from past generations.
Customer Reviews:
Delicious memories.......2002-07-06
This beautifully written book is a real find and I hope someone restores it to print. Kluger weaves together recollections of her childhood on an Indiana farm in the 1930s with the recipes for the dishes she grew up eating. Every page is filled with affection that feels genuine, never cloying. The recipes are outstanding and will remind many people of food they, or their parents, ate. (Chess pie, buttermilk biscuits, real preserves, etc.) This book is also a good reminder of a time when people not only made do with what they could grow or build themselves, they also turned what people today might think of as hardships into occasions for joy.
Average customer rating:
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Backroad Bistros, Farmhouse Fare: A French Country Cookbook
Jane Sigal
Manufacturer: Pavilion
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
Regional & International
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
| African
| Asian
| Canadian
| Caribbean & West Indian
| European
| General
| International
| Latin American
| Mexican
| Middle Eastern
| Native American
| U.S. Regional
Reference & Tips
| Travel
| Subjects
| Books
| Beaches
| Business Travel
| Cruises
| Essays & Travelogues
| Food & Lodging
| Guidebooks
| Pictorial
| Reference
| Spas
| Tips
| Tourist Destinations & Museums
| Travel Writing
ASIN: 1857936922 |
Books:
- Fruits and Vegetables/Frutas y vegetales (English and Spanish Foundation Series) (Book #10) (Bilingual)
- Fruits and Vegetables/Frutas y vegetales (English and Spanish Foundation Series) (Book #10) (Bilingual)
- Getting Started in Personal and Executive Coaching: How to Create a Thriving Coaching Practice (Getting Started in)
- Green Living: The E Magazine Handbook for Living Lightly on the Earth
- Greens Glorious Greens: More than 140 Ways to Prepare All Those Great-Tasting, Super-Healthy, Beautiful Leafy Greens
- Hatched!: The Big Push from Pregnancy to Motherhood
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- How To Pronounce French, German, and Italian Wine Names (Let's Learn!)
- Hurricane Punch: A Novel
- Life's Missing Instruction Manual : The Guidebook You Should Have Been Given at Birth
Books Index
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Farmhouse Cookbook
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On Rue Tatin: Living and Cooking in a French Town
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